There were a number of jokes flying about whiskey on Aug. 20 when township, federal and provincial officials celebrated the refurbishing of the LCBO here.
Parks Canada’s Alice Willems called the building “an excellent example of the type of drill shed constructed in rural Canada before the Department of Defence standardized them.”
Wellington Halton Hills MP Michael Chong said Parks Canada has done an excellent job of maintaining national historic sites, and he thanked Centre Wellington council for its efforts.
The building, now the LCBO, has received a repointing of its stone work, new windows, insulation, and electrical work.
Parks Canada provided a grant of $70,000 and that was matched by the township complete the work.
The final cost was $227,000, and Chong suggested the building will now last another 145 years. He called that good value for the money spent.
Chong said the building is the last surviving stone drill shed. It was built, like many others in Upper Canada, in the 1860s to fend off raids from Fenians.
That group of Irish in the United States was upset with Great Britain and hoped by attacking Canada in North America, they could gain concessions in Ireland from Great Britain.
“It was this building that helped to defend Canada,’ Chong said. “It serves as a marker of the birth of our sovereignty.
Chong also noted that the building was erected by Scottish stone masons, and they “would have been very happy it’s been repurposed as a liquor store.”
Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said that in between the building being a drill shed when her great-great-grandfather was living in Elora, and before it became a liquor store, the building was used by Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, and Horticultural Societies as a place for meetings and social activities.
“We thank the government for its contributions,” she said, adding, “I know you enjoy it now” as a liquor store.
Councillor Fred Morris, who is on Heritage Centre Wellington, said if the Fenians had looked into the future and see what the building is today, “They might have brought their shot glasses instead of their shotguns.”
Morris also said people can learn from history, and noted that while the building was built about 150 years ago to defend against a threat from the south, today Canada and the United States share a friendship and a very long and undefended border.
“We don’t need the guards,” he said. “We don’t need the weapons to protect ourselves from each other.”
